Time-recorder.



No. 857,419. PATENTED JUNE 18, 1907. 11. A. STOWELL.

TIME RECORDER. APPLIOATION FILED JAN.18, 1906.

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UNITED STATESEATENT OFFICE.

DESRIE A. STOWELL, OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SIM- PLEX TIME RECORDER COMPANY,- OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

TIME-RECORDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1907.

Application filed January 18, 1906. Serial No. 296,642.

Time-Recorders, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to time recorders adapted for recording the time when the dif ferent employees of any concern arrive at or depart from their work, and particularly to that class of time recorders in which the record-sheet is detachably mounted upon a revolving cylinder operated by suitable clock mechanism and the record is made by a marking punch which is adapted to mark or penetrate the record-sheet. A recorder of this general type is shown in Patent N 0. 527,304, dated October 9, 1894.

My present invention has for its object to improve time recorders of this general type by providing an actuating member for oper ating each marking punch, which member is adapted to be manually moved by the employee into either one of two positions according as the employee has arrived at his work or has departed therefrom, the movement of the member into either position operating to make a record on the record-sheet by providing means whereby each marking punch is inked during its penetrative move ment whereby the record-sheet is not only penetrated but also marked; by providing suitable change gearing between the clockmechanism and the rotatable cylinder, whereby the time required for the cylinder to make a complete rotation may be varied; by providing an interlocking connection between the various levers which actuate the punches, wherebyv only one punch may be operated at a single time; and also by providing various other features, all of which will be more fully hereinafter described and then pointed out in the following claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of a time recorder having my improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a section on substantially the line a;:r, Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4 are details of the connection between the cylinder and its driving mechanism, Fig. 3 being a section on the line 'y y, Fig. 4, and Fig. 4 being a view on the line aa, Fig. 3, looking upwardly; Fig. 5 is a section on substantially the line bb, Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a view looking down at the lever mechanism for operating the punches; Fig. 7 is a detail of the change gear for operating the cylinder; Fig. 8 is a section on the line c-c, Fig. 7, and Fig. 9 is a side view of the parts shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 10 is a detail of the inking pad for the punches.

3 designates a suitable case which contains the clock mechanism 4, the rotatable cylinder 5 for carrying the record-sheet, and'the other operative parts of the device. Said cylinder, which is herein shown as a corrugated cylinder, is adapted to carry a suitablyruled record-sheet 6, and it is driven from the clock mechanism by the change gearing here inafter described. The record is made on the sheet as by means of puncturing unches 7 which are adapted to puncture t e sheet between adjacent corrugations or ribs there on. These punches are carried by suitable punch-carrying levers 8 which are pivotally mounted in the case in any suitable way, as at 9.

Each punch-carrying lever is adapted to be turned about its pivot thereby to give its punch the desired penetrative movement to puncture the record-sheet by means of an actuating member 10 which is adapted to be moved into either one of two positions, and which is connected to the punch-carrying 8 5 lever in such a way that the lever is given an operative movement by the motion of the actuating member in either direction.

Each actuating member is shown as a lever pivoted to .the case in some suitable way, as at 11, and projecting through an opening 12 in the front of-the case, the exposed end 13 constituting a thumb-piece by which the "lever can be manually turned about its pivot.

Each actuatinglever 10 is connected to its punch-carrying lever 8 by a suitable link connection 14. With this construction it will be seen that whenever each lever 10 is swung from the full line position Fig. 2 into the dotted line position, the corresponding punch-carrying lever will be rocked about its pivot and the outer end thereof first elevated to give the punch its penetrative movement, and then depressed to withdraw the punch.

Each punch-carrying lever 8 is acted upon 5 by a spring 15 which tends normallly to hold said lever in the full line position Fig. 2.

Each link 14 and its actuating lever 10 form a sort of toggle-lever connection for operating the corresponding punch-carrying I I0 lever, the swinging movement of each actuating lever operating to straighten the toggle .the lever. .detachably secured thereto a. member proand thereby give the punch its penetrative movement. After the toggle has passed its dead center, the spring operates to complete the throw of the actuating lever 10 and to Withdraw the punch.

The actuating levers 10 are supposed to be in one position, for instance in the full line position Fig. 2, when the employees have left their work, and have made indication of such fact. When the employee returns to work, he records the time of his return by throwing the actuating lever 10 into the dotted line position, Fig. 2, and when he leaves work he records the time by returning his particular actuating lever to the full line position Fig. 2. The movement of the actuating lever in each direction operates to give the corresponding punch 7 its penetrative movement,

as will be obvious, and by noting the position of any lever 10, it will be possible to determine whether any individual workman has arrived or not.

It will be understood, of course, that there are a plurality of actuating levers and a corresponding number of puncturing punches, each lever being numbered.

I have so arranged the numbers on the actuating levers that the number of the lever can be readily observed in either position of As herein shown, each lever has vided with two arms 15, each arm carrying a cap 16 on which the number is imprinted. The two arms have such an angular relation to each other that when the actuating lever is in one position one cap standssubstantially parallel with the front of the case, and when the lever is thrown into its other position the other cap assumes this position. The number of the lever, therefore, is readily readable in either position thereof.

For convenience in construction and in order to make the device more compact, I have shown the levers 8 arranged in two series,-one either side of the case and have given the actuating levers 10 for each series of punch-carrying levers 8 a staggered relation so that there are two rows of actuating levers 10 on either side of the case. The levers of each row pass through a slot or opening 12 in the frontof the case, and each lever extends through a sliding shield 17 which slides back and forth against the wall of the case as the actuating lever is thrown and which is of suflicient length to close the opening 12 at all positions of the actuating lever.

The puncturing punches 7 are herein shown as pivotally mounted on their respective punch-carrying levers 8, each punch being guided in its penetrative movement by a suitable guide 18. The point of the punch is ada ted to pass through an aperture in a face-p ate 19 which is adjacent to the recordsheet, but does not quite touch the same, and within the face-plate 19 I have arranged an inking'-' ad 20 with which the puncturing point as contact during its penetrative movement. The result is that each punch is inked during its movement toward the record-sheet, and said punch, therefore, not only punctures the sheet but makes an ink impression thereon around the puncture. I regard this feature as of importance because where the record is made simply by puncturing the sheet, such record is sometimes obliterated by subsequent closure of the puncture, but where the record is made by inking as well as by puncturing the sheet, oblitera tion of the record is impossible.

In order to prevent more than one actuating lever from being operated at a single time, I have provided an interlockin connection between said levers. As erein shown, each punch-carrying lever 8 works up and down in a slot 21 formed in a bar 22. Said bar has extending longitudinally there of a slot 23 in which are arranged a plurality of sliding blocks 24, said blocks being shown as having rounded 11 per edges, seeFig. 5. There are as many locks 24 as there are punch-carrying levers 8, and each block has a length equal to the distance between two adjacent levers 8. The total length of the slot 23 is such as to accommodate all the blocks 24 with sufficient space to spare so that when any punch-carrying lever 8 is lowered, it will crowd the blocks 24 either side thereof toward the ends of the slot and cause the end blocks to engage abutments at the ends of the slots. i

So long as any one punch-carrying lever 8 is lowered, as shown in Fig. 5, no other lever 8 can be lowered and therefore While one actuating lever 10 is being moved, all the other actuating levers on the same side of the machine are locked. I

In order-that the actuating levers on the opposite side of the machine may be also looked during the operation of any one actuating lever, I employ the connection shown in Fig. 6 wherein 26, 26, designate two bellcranks situated at the ends of the bars 22 and suitably connected by means of a link or connection 27. One. arm of each bell-crank forms the abutment at the end of the adj acent slot 23, and the construction is such, as will be obvious from Fig. 6, that during the operation of any actuating lever 10 on one side of the machine and the consequent lowering of the corresponding lever 8, the sliding movement of the blocks 24 will swing the bell-cranks 26 and thus move all the blocks 24 on the o posite side of the machine in the position to lock the downward movement of the levers 8 on said side of the machine. I

The cylinder 5 is j ournaled at its upper end upon a stud 28 and is rotated by means of a crank-pin 29 carried from a crank-arm 30 fast on said stud, said crankin entering a slot 31 in the end of the cy inder. Rigid with the stud 28 is a worm gear 32 which is driven from a suitable worm 33,"the latter being driven from a driven shaft 34 through suitable gearing 35, 36. The shaft 34 is driven from a driving shaft 37 which is operated by the clock mechanism 4.

In order to provide a driving mechanism by which the cylinder 5 may be rotated once during every twelve hours or once during every twenty-four hours, or once during any other predetermined interval of time, I use the change gearing, as shown inFigs. 7, 8 and 9, by which the driven shaft 34 may be rotated at the same speed as the driving shaft 37 or at some other speed. The driving shaft 37 is shown as having at its end a tubular member 38 in which telescopes one end of a shaft-extension 39 having thereon two gears 40 and 41. Said gears 40 and 41 are adapted to mesh respectively with gears 42 and 43 on the driven shaft 34. The shaft extension 39 is mounted for movement longitudinally of the driving shaft, but is connected thereto so as to rotate therewith, and

the gears and 41 on said shaft-extension are so placed that in one position of the shaftextension the gear 40 meshes with the gear 42, while in another position, the gear 41 meshes with the gear 43. .The gears 41 and 43 are of substantially the same size and.

when they are in mesh the driven shaft rotates once for every revolution of the driving shaft 37, and the cylinder containing the record sheet will make a complete revolution every twenty-four hours. The gears 40 and 42 however have such a relative size that when they are in mesh, the driven shaft 34 rotates twice for every revolution of the driving shaft 37, and consequently the cylinder 5 will rotate once every twelve hours. By simply using gearing of the proper size between the driving and driven shafts the cylinder 5 may be caused to rotate once during any predetermined interval of time.

The gearing intermediate the driven shaft and the cylinder is so designed that the cylinder will make one rotation during each twenty-four hours when the gears 41 and 43 are in mesh, as shown in Fig. 7, or will rotate once during each twelve hours when the gears 40 and 42 are in mesh.

For giving the shaft-extension 39 its longitudinal movement, I have shown it as mounted in a movable bearing member 44 from which extends an adjusting screw 45 laying in a slot 46 of the support 47. By oosening the screw 45, the bearing block 44 and the shaft'extension can be adjusted up or down to throw either pair of gears into mesh.

In order, to prevent there being any lost motion or play between the crank-pin 29 and the walls of the aperture 31, I have shown a spring 50 which is carried by the cylinder and is adapted to engage one side of the crankpin and hold it tightly against the opposite wall of the aperture.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a time recorder, the combination with a casing, of means within the casing to support a record sheet, a pivoted punch-can r in'g lever within the casing, a punch carried thereby, an actuating lever pivoted between its ends to the casing and having one end exposed for manual manipulation, and a link connecting the other end of said lever to the punchcarrying lever, said levers being mounted to turn about different axes.

2. In a time recorder, i the combination with a support for a record sheet of a pivoted actuating member having an exposed end for manual manipulation and adapted to be turned about its pivot into either one of two positions, a pivoted lever, a marking device carried thereby, and operative connections between said actuating memberand said lever whereby the latter is operated to mark the record sheet when the actuating member is moved into either one of its two positions.

3. In a time recorder, the combination with a movable support for a record sheet of a marking device to engage said record sheet, a pivotedactuating lever having an exposed end for manual manipulation and adapted to be turned into either one of two different positions, and operative connections between the actuating lever and the marking device for causing the latter to be operated.

to mark the record sheet during the movement of the lever in each direction, said lever serving to indicate by its position the character of the record made.

4. In a time recorder, the combination with a movable support for a record sheet, a marking device to engage the record sheet, a

pivoted actuating lever having an exposed end for manual manipulation and constructed to be turned into either one of two difierent positions, means to cause the marking device to be operated by the turning movement of said lever into either one of its two positions, and an indicator carried by said lever and capable of indicating the number in either of its two positions.

5. In a time recorder, a movable support for a record-sheet, a marking device to engage the record-sheet, an actuating lever for operating the marking device, said lever being constructed to be moved manually into either one of two diiferent positions and adapted to operate the marking device during its movement in either direction, and two" number-carrymg plates on each lever.

ating lever for each punch, connections between each actuating lever and the punch,

whereby the punch is operated during the movement of the lever into either one of its two positions, and two number-carrying plates on each lever.

7. In a time recorder, the combination with a plurality of series of punch-carrying levers and a marking punch carried by each lever, of a bar provided with transverse slots to receive the levers of each series, said bars each having a longitudinal slot, a plurality of interlocking blocks slidably mounted in the longitudinal slot of each bar, and connections between the blocks in the two bars, whereby any lever in one series is prevented from'being operated while any lever in the other series is operated.

8. In a time recorder, movable means to support and form a backing for a recordsheet, a punch to penetrate said sheet, punch-actuating mechanism, and an inking pad through which the punch passes during its penetrative movement and before it penetrates the sheet.

9. In a time recorder, the combination with means to support a record sheet of a punch to penetrate said sheet, punch-actuating mechanism, and an inking pad in which the end of the punch is received when in its inoperative position.

i 10. .In a time recorder, in combination, movable means to support'and form a backing for a record sheet, a punch to penetrate sald sheet, punch-actuating mechanism, and means to ink all sides of the punch before it penetrates the sheet.

'11. In a time recorder, the combination with movable means to support and form a backing for a record sheet, a punch to penetrate said sheet and punch-actuating mechanism, of means to ink all. sides of the unch duringits penetrative movement and efore it penetrates the sheet.

12. In a time recorder, the combination with movable means to support and form a backing for a record sheet and a punch to penetrate said sheet of an ink-pad contain ing chamber situated'between the punch and the sheet, an ink pad'in said chamber whereby the punch passes through said ink pad during its penetrative movement.

13. In a time recorder, a rotativecylinder to carry a record-sheet, a clock-work including a driving shaft, a shaft-extension mov able longitudinally of the driving shaft but rotative therewith, two gears of different sizes carried by said shaft-extension, a driven shaft having two gears, and operative connections between the driven shaft and the cylinder, the slidable movement of the shaft-extension permitting the driven shaft to be geared to either of the gears on the driving shaft.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DESRIE A. STOWELL.

Witnesses:

THATOHER B. DUNN, FLORENCE L. MOORE. 

